Moving On
by ButtercupHarmony
Summary: How Samantha changes her life after finding Liana Sardo. MS. SPOILERS! LOTS OF THEM! read inside for a complete list. FINISHED
1. Prologue

Spoilers: Moving On, The Bus, A Tree Falls, The Friendly Skies, Confidence Author's Note: Please be kind, this is my first fanfiction that wasn't Newsies. In fact, this is my first fanfiction in a couple of years. No flames please. Oh yeah, this is implied M/S feelings; with mentions of past J/S. Nothing much ever comes out of it. Unless you review and like the idea.. *nudge nudge wink wink*  
  
Oh, and anything in between two asterisks (* * ( those lil' puppies) is supposed to be italics. And everything in italics is dialogue from the show.  
  
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine. Don't sue. I'm not making any money off of this, all you'll get is my CSI DVDs and a couple teddy bears.  
  
~*~*~  
  
She'd lied earlier, when she said that she didn't know why this latest case had made her so sad. Part of her didn't understand. They'd had a happy ending. They had found their missing doctor; a female neurosurgeon who lived in a world where people like her was a rarity. They'd reunited a mother and her adopted daughter. So why did this case make Samantha sad?  
  
*"Why did that make you sad?"* The "federally funded therapist" whom Samantha had adamantly resisted in the beginning asked.  
  
Tears gathered in Samantha's eyes, and her lower lip quivered a little. The words were right there on the tip of her tongue, yet the words, *"I don't know"* came out instead.  
  
On the drive home, she'd allowed the tears to slip down her face. Upon learning about the letter the adoption agency had sent a letter to "Wendy," another baby's face flashed in front of her mind's eye. A pink faced baby with blonde fuzz. The baby that had gone from her uterus to the arms of her new mommy and daddy, a young couple from Chicago who'd been unable to conceive on their own.  
  
Walking through the door to her apartment, she closed the door and leaned against it. Glancing around her apartment, she felt a second round of tears gather. Their apartments were so similar.cold, impersonal. They both work too much. She sank onto her couch, feeling insanely connected to a woman that she'd barely met. 'You didn't have to meet her Sam.' A little voice in her head chided. 'You just poked and prodded into every detail of the life of a woman whose only intention was protecting her daughter. Even though it turned out to not be her daughter.'  
  
*"You need to get out more."*  
  
Martin's words, gentle and quiet, flashed into her mind's ear. Her heart clenched as she thought of the game the two of them had been playing since he'd joined the team. When he'd first asked her if she wanted to go grab drinks after they'd solved the case where the flight attended had gone missing, her heart had still been set on Jack. She'd been so blinded by him. She knew she could never be his, not totally, not legally, but she'd given him her heart, and although they both know he couldn't have it, she let him keep it.  
  
Then after the shooting, where she killed the two men that had kidnapped a bus full of kids, she had taken him up on his offer. She'd had a good time, she couldn't deny that. After years of being in law enforcement, first in the NYPD and then the FBI, she'd grown used to male co-workers trying to seduce her. Martin was different. He made no such attempt; he'd tried to help her by simply being there. That night, after she'd gone to bed, as she was falling asleep, she felt a slight pang in her gut that nothing more had happened.  
  
Nothing had happened after that.life had returned to normal in the Missing Persons unit, or as normal as life could get. When Jack sent Martin and Samantha to Palm Springs to question Voland, Voland had asked Martin if she was his girlfriend. *"I'm his partner."* She answered like a hardass, squishing the feelings of regret like a bug. 'But I want to be.' The little voice in her head continued, and she felt herself flush, and found herself grateful that Martin made no further comment, and even more grateful that neither of the two men had noticed.  
  
Her heart had broken for him after the shooting he as involved in, the one where he'd killed "El Coyote." She was so glad that Reyes only had a knife, not a gun, and her maternal instincts came out of nowhere when she saw him sitting at his desk, going over his report, worrying internally about the OPR investigation in the morning. She'd asked him if he wanted to go out for drinks, but no. *"I have to finish my report."*  
  
Finally, equilibrium had returned the team. And now this case. She glanced at the clock, 10:24. Deciding he'd probably still be up, she picked up her phone, and dialed.  
  
One ring. Two Rings. Halfway through the third ring, he picked up. "Fitzgerald." He answered smoothly, a hint of confusion, wondering who'd be calling this late.  
  
"Martin? It's me, Samantha." 


	2. Chapter 1

Spoilers: Moving On Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews y'guys! *does happy dance* Bits of this chapter seem a bit out of character, but it had to be done. And besides, I'm sure the three of them that are out of character would act that way, sometimes. Right?  
  
~*~Takes place eight months after last chapter~*~  
  
Samantha sighed to herself, absent-mindedly rubbing circles on Martin's bare chest with her thumb. She pulled herself closer into his side, moving her head to underneath his chin.  
  
"Sam? What's wrong?" Martin asked quietly, tightening his grip on her.  
  
"Do you remember that case about eight months ago, the one with the doctor that disappeared while jogging with her ex-husband?" She asked quietly, remembering the emotions that had, in the long run brought the two of them together.  
  
"Yeah, she's the one that was trying to protect her daughter who wasn't really her daughter?" Martin asked, slightly confused. Sam nodded. "Why do you ask?"  
  
A lone tear trickled down Sam's face, but she wiped away quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice. "Martin, I've never told you this, and if you hate me I won't blame you but-."  
  
Martin laughed softly. "Sam, you're babbling. I could never hate you. I love you so much." He kissed the top of her head. "Just tell me what's wrong."  
  
"When I was sixteen, I got pregnant. I gave my baby girl up for adoption." Sam whispered, tensing up, waiting for his words of rejection, waiting for him to ask for his ring back.  
  
"That's it?" He said, after an awkward pause. "I don't mean to downsize it, but you made it sound like you'd killed somebody." She gave a light laugh.  
  
"Yup. That's me. A hired hit woman." She paused a moment, to work up her courage. "You don't think less of me?" She asked in a small voice.  
  
"Think less of you?" Martin said incredulously. He moved her so he was able to look into her eyes. "Sam, this may sound crazy, but I think more of you." At her raised eyebrows, he explained, "You were sixteen. You wouldn't have been able to provide for the baby, give it a home she deserved, no offense."  
  
"None taken." She whispered, in shock that he was repeating the mantra that she'd been telling herself since she realized she was pregnant.  
  
"So you did the best thing you could have done for her, give her to a couple who could. You made sure that she had a chance for a better life, with parents who could provide for her." He reached for her left hand and fingered the simple engagement ring. He smiled slightly. He was so lucky to have her. When he'd seen that ring, it simply screamed 'Samantha Spade.'  
  
"What's so funny?" She whispered. He smiled wider.  
  
"I'm just thinking what their reactions are going to be when you walk in with the ring." He explained, her grin matched his.  
  
"That'll be a shocker. One day I'm single, the next, I'm engaged to the sweetest guy in the FBI." She teased, kissing him. He returned the kiss, with equal passion.  
  
~*~  
  
"Morning Samantha." Danny said as the beautiful woman entered the small enclosure of desks.  
  
"Good morning." She returned good naturedly, sitting at her desk. "Do we have a case yet?"  
  
"No, but Jack hasn't come out of what the hell is that on your finger?" Danny exclaimed, switching topic mid-sentence. Feigning innocence, Samantha looked down at her hands.  
  
"Oh that. Yeah. I met this really sweet guy the other night, he gave it to me." She said nonchalantly, raising her eyes to meet Martin's, and she knew he was loving every moment of Danny's confusion. Danny followed her gaze to Martin's.  
  
"Martin, did you know about this?" Martin put an innocent face on and nodded. That put even more confusion onto Danny's face.  
  
"What's wrong Danny? Brain going into overdrive?" Viviane teased the complexed younger agent. Danny glared at the dark-skinned agent as she entered the area of desks that the missing person's unit occupied.  
  
"Sam's engaged and she's never given any indication that she was seeing anybody." Danny complained, glaring at Martin, who seemed to know more about the situation than he did. 'Fitzy?' He thought, seeing the sparkle in his eyes. 'Nah, couldn't be. I thought he got over her ages ago.'  
  
"Let me see." Viviane commanded, holding out her hand. Samantha complied. "It's beautiful." Viviane breathed, twisting and turning her hand so the ring caught the light, and reflecting into different directions.  
  
"Do you have a date set?" Viviane asked, settling into her seat, spinning around so she could face the group. Samantha rolled her eyes.  
  
"Give us some time Viv! He only proposed last night!" She exclaimed, as Jack joined the foursome.  
  
"Who proposed?" Jack asked, confusion written all over his face. His eyes narrowed slightly as they focused on the diamond on her left hand. "Congratulations." He said quietly, turning away from the group, sticking an 8 by 10 photo onto the whiteboard.  
  
"Audrey Johnstone, age 16." He announced, switching back into the business mode. "Stayed after school yesterday, never made it home. Martin, Danny, I want you to go to the school, talk to teachers friends. Find out what you can. Sam, go to Shaw's where she works part time after school. Viv, you and I are going to talk to her parents." Turning on his heel and walked out. The remaining four agents glanced at each other.  
  
It was going to be a long day. 


	3. Chapter 2

Spoilers: Moving On Author's Note: Sorry to have posted this so late. I had this ready a couple days ago, but I wasn't completely happy with it. So I held on to it and fixed it up. Which is good because things are explained a bit more. ~*~*~*~  
  
"So, Sam, did you get anything?" Danny asked the blonde when he reentered the bullpen.  
  
"Uh, yeah." Samantha looked at him and smirked. "She's a real bitch when she's hungry." She laughed softly. "But other than that, she's courteous to the customers, friendly to the rest of the employees, always on time. No one seems to have anything against her. Nothing probative." Danny nodded, the diamond ring catching his eye.  
  
"It's Martin, isn't it?" He asked with a sly grin, motioning toward the ring. Samantha smiled and nodded.  
  
"How'd you guess?" She asked sheepishly. Danny laughed.  
  
"I badgered Martin. He wouldn't give anything up but a huge grin." Danny smiled at his friend. "How's Jack taking it so far?" he asked softly, and she sighed.  
  
"I don't know. As far as I know, he doesn't know its Martin. I think he sees it as a form of betrayal." At Danny's confused look, she held up her hands in mock surrender. "I don't pretend to understand why. What've you got?" She asked, getting back to the case.  
  
"Uh, she's a smart girl. On the cusp of top quarter of her class, she's taking French 1, Chemistry, Creative Writing, Band, and English 3. Getting A's and B's in everything but English, in which she's struggling to maintain a C. All the teachers think she's a great kid, all the friends that we talked to, not that there were many, said basically the same thing; shy, quiet, they don't know much about her. The only one that really had anything to say was Sarah, her best friend. According to her, she doesn't get along with her parents that well, that they didn't approve of her sexuality, said that they were constantly fighting about one thing or another."  
  
Samantha's eyebrows rose. "Motive?" She questioned. Danny grinned.  
  
"Let's find out." He said, and the two began to leave the bullpen. Jack came back into the hall.  
  
"Sam, can I talk to you in my office?" He asked gruffly, his voice leaving no room for arguments. Danny and Samantha glanced at each other.  
  
"Good luck." Danny whispered as she resigned to her fate and began following Jack.  
  
~*~  
  
"So, who is it?" Jack demanded, sitting behind his desk, Samantha sitting in a chair in front of it. She raised her eyebrows in a flippant manner.  
  
"Our suspect? We don't have one yet. As far as we know, she ran away to escape her parent's bigotry." She said, knowing full well what Jack wanted to know. He scowled.  
  
"Samantha." He said, his voice dripping with warning. "Who is it? Because as far as I know, you weren't with anybody yesterday-."  
  
"And still available?" She said calmly, though her eyes were flashing with anger. His black eyes narrowed in anger.  
  
"That was uncalled for Agent Spade." He said through clenched teeth. She stood.  
  
"So was this conversation." She said coldly. She walked to the door, and opened. Halfway through, she stopped and turned around. "It's Martin." She said, anger and hurt in her eyes. His jaw dropped as she turned and stalked back into the bullpen.  
  
Shit.  
  
~*~  
  
Martin was back when she walked back into the bullpen, she was glad to see. His mere presence had a calming affect on her. As she passed him, he smiled at her as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the telephone.  
  
"Okay thanks." He said, and hung up the phone. Fortunately for Samantha, Jack decided to enter the bullpen at that moment with Danny in tow. Turning around he said, "A motel owner in Rockwell saw Audrey's picture on the news, and recognized her as a girl who was in the motel last night." The impact of his words hit the others at the same time.  
  
"Alright. Danny and Martin, you two go and check this out." Jack said, and stalked back into his office, presumably to sulk. Martin frowned.  
  
"What was that about?" He asked Samantha, who sent him a look of exasperation.  
  
"I'll tell you later."  
  
~*~  
  
"Miss Roberts? Open up, F.B.I." Martin called out, knocking on the motel door. Within seconds, the door creaked open, and there stood Amelia Roberts. Her brown hair hung down in wet clumps, and her eyes were wide and scared.  
  
Several feet behind her, sitting on the edge of the bed was sixteen-year- old Audrey, wearing gray sweatpants, and a white spaghetti strap shirt. Her long dirty blonde hair was tied back in a French Braid. Her feet were bare, and tears dripped down her face, unseen.  
  
"You're going to take me back." She whispered. Danny nodded.  
  
"Yes we have to." He said softly. "Believe me, I wish I didn't." Neither of the two men wanted to drag her back to that bigoted family. But the law was the law, and Martin and Danny were both obligated to abide by it.  
  
~*~  
  
"So, how'd you and Samantha get together?" Danny asked, having congratulated his friend on the drive up to Rockwell. Martin shifted and looked at him.  
  
"After the Liana Sardo case. Something in it struck a nerve in her, so she called me. Everything just snowballed from there." He said. Danny smiled.  
  
"And here I thought you'd gotten over her." Danny remarked. Martin laughed.  
  
"The look on your face earlier was priceless." Martin said.  
  
"Just take care of her Martin. If you hurt her." Danny trailed off. Martin picked up where he left off.  
  
"You'll hunt me down and kill me." Martin said. "I could never hurt her." He said softly. "Besides, I'd have to be pretty stupid to anger a couple of armed FBI agents." He added. "Especially Sam." Danny laughed.  
  
"You got a point there Fitzy." 


	4. Chapter 3

Martin sighed, and closed the program he was running on the computer. Another case solved, with a happy ending this time. Was it happy? She, like so many others just didn't want to be found. There were times he didn't blame them. Until eight months ago, the thought of just leaving had crossed his mind, more than once. There were times when he just didn't want to drag himself out of bed.  
  
He was a Fitzgerald. Raised from birth to perform duty, honor, and the rest of the load of bull. For the longest time, Danny held firmly to the belief that Martin had been handed everything, and expected everything handed to him. Though Martin's dad, the mighty deputy director Victor Fitzgerald didn't understand why, Martin hated it, wanted to be able forge his own path through life, not the senior Fitzgerald's hand-me-downs. 'Then why did you decide to enter the F.B.I. Fitzy?'  
  
He sighed again and began to rub his temples, trying to fight back a migraine. "Hey." He looked up and saw Samantha leaning against his desk.  
  
"Hey." He said softly, smiling at her. God she was beautiful.  
  
"You okay?" she asked, her brows furrowed in concern.  
  
"Yeah, stress headache." Martin said, only lying somewhat.  
  
"Hey, don't look now," Danny's amused voice quipped, "But Jack is sending the two of you dirty looks."  
  
"How dirty?" Martin asked, opting to not turn around. Samantha, remembering their argument, did the same.  
  
"If looks could kill, you'd both be dead five times over. So would Viviane and I."  
  
"Why would we be dead?" Viviane asked, joining the conversation under the guise of gathering her stuff.  
  
"You're asking me to rationalize Agent Malone's mind. It's nearly impossible Viv, you should know that." Danny argued, keeping his eyes glued to his computer screen. "But I think it's because we gave the two lovebirds our blessings." Martin turned to Samantha.  
  
"Speaking of which, what happened in the office?" Martin asked, not worried too much about the answer. He knew about the affair, and knew that it was truly over. Their body language said that much.  
  
Samantha smiled wryly. "I'll tell you at home." She motioned her head toward the door. "Ready to go." She asked. Martin smiled.  
  
"Yeah, let's go." He said, and stood. The two began to walk out of the bullpen, Samantha's hand slipped into his.  
  
"Hey lovebirds, have fun! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Danny called over to them. Keeping her grip on Martin's hand, she turned.  
  
"Now Danny, is that list long or short?" She teased, and walked out.  
  
~*~  
  
"You know, you never told me when Jack said to you." Martin said, pushing his pork fried rice around his plate. Samantha sighed.  
  
"Why do you want to know?" She asked defensively. Martin looked at her.  
  
"Because it's obviously bothering you. Besides, whenever he looked at me today I felt like I was about to get a tongue-lashing." He said simply. Samantha sighed. And she told him, the whole story.  
  
"Bastard." He mumbled, glaring at his pork fried rice as if it had mortally harmed him. Samantha looked at him worriedly.  
  
"Martin, what's wrong?" She asked softly, reaching out and grasping his hand.  
  
"Nothing, it's just that, well, affairs just make me sick. And he's made it obvious that he'd cheat on his wife again if you'd given him the chance." He said bitterly. "I don't want you to take that the wrong way. I know you wouldn't."  
  
"Why do you trust me so much?" Samantha whispered. He looked at her and smiled sadly.  
  
"Because I know how much this is eating at you." He kissed her gently on the lips. The Chinese takeout sat forgotten on the table as they inevitably became more interested in each other. Their clothes came off, article by article. Their lovemaking was sensual, full of the passion they held for each other. When it was done; they lay there on the large sofa, sated.  
  
"I love you Martin." She whispered in his ear. He smiled into her neck.  
  
"I love you too, so much." His breath was warm on her neck.  
  
"This sofa isn't big enough for the both of us. Let's just go to bed." Samantha suggested. He smiled, and let her lead the way to her bedroom.  
  
They fell onto the large bed in an undignified heap. And they lay there, entangled in each other as the slipped into a warm and comforting sleep. 


	5. Chapter 4

Author's Note: For this chapter, please just keep in mind that this chapter will come into play towards the end of the story. Please don't hate me too much.  
  
Yeah yeah, I know this one's short. This chapter had one main purpose: to set the stage for a later chapter. I managed to do it in less words than I hoped (Damn US History! (Don't ask)) ~~~~  
  
Martin woke as the morning sun slanted in and hit his eyes. He smiled to himself as he looked down and saw his fiancée's sleeping face lying on his shoulder. Fiancée. He loved being able to say that word. Finally, he felt as if he truly had something to live for.  
  
He lay there, unmoving, simply watching Samantha sleep, and taking great joy in doing so. He loved her so much, he had fallen for her his first day on the team. He smiled and kissed her as her eyes fluttered open. "Morning beautiful." He murmured. She smiled sleepily.  
  
"What time is it?" She mumbled.  
  
"Almost 8:30." He responded, kissing her eyelids. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.  
  
"Martin?"  
  
"Mm?"  
  
"Now is probably not the best time," she trailed off.  
  
"But?"  
  
"Why do you hate affairs so much?"  
  
A long silence. Suddenly she was worried that she had struck a nerve in him, and that he'd close up to her.  
  
"It's a long story."  
  
"We've got time Martin. In fact, we have the rest of our lives."  
  
~*~ (The previous night)  
  
"So, how did you know that Samantha was seeing someone?" Danny asked Viviane as they packed up to go home.  
  
"A couple months ago, Jack asked me to call Samantha for a case. Martin answered her cell. So I asked." Viviane smirked.  
  
"That don't look good." Danny muttered, staring darkly at the hallway leading to Jack's office. Viviane turned in time to see the tall profile of Victor Fitzgerald enter Jack's office.  
  
"News travels fast in the Bureau." Viviane remarked before walking out of the bullpen and down the hall.  
  
~*~ (Present time)  
  
The room was silent, save the sound of their breathing. They both lay there, lost in their own thoughts.  
  
Samantha held his hand loosely in hers, rubbing small circles with her thumb on the top of his hand. She longed to heal the hurt that he'd held inside for his whole life.  
  
She was still shocked at the story Martin had told her; the story of a powerful F.B.I. agent and a lowly receptionist, the story of infidelity and years of broken promises, the story of a broken woman, a woman with no choice but to stay in a loveless marriage and forced to raise a child that wasn't hers.  
  
"Why'd she stay?"  
  
"She had nowhere to go." He whispered. 


	6. Chapter 5

Spoilers: Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been, In Extremis, ~~~~  
  
Sometime after nine, Martin and Samantha dragged themselves out of bed. It was a rare day off, and the lack of plans had made the both of them rather lethargic.  
  
Samantha was curled on the leather couch; channel surfing while Martin was in the shower when the phone rang. She hesitated; for some reason, she felt incredibly odd answering Martin's phone. Fortunately, she was let off the hook when the answering machine picked up. (A/N: No pun intended. Honestly)  
  
After the machine generated voice ended, and the expected beep, whose sole purpose on this Earth was to alert the caller that it was time to leave a message, Samantha was slightly surprised that Danny's voice filled the room. She'd known that over the past couple years, Martin and Danny had become somewhat closer as friends, but she had no idea that he knew Martin's home phone number. Hell, she barely knew Martin's home phone number, and she was his fiancée.  
  
"Hey Martin, it's Danny. Listen, I know what you're thinking, 'How the hell did he get my home phone? Well, it's in your file. Anyway, last night, soon after you left, your dad showed up, and went to talk to Jack. I don't think it was a social call. You know how they are when they're put in the same room as each other. Personally, I think the OPR is still on their witch- hunt, and word travels fast in the Bureau. Somebody probably reported the fight that he had with Samantha, and since they'd probably pushed the affair issue back when they first showed up for the Anwar Samir case, and my guess is that they are probably going to re-open the issue. I just figured I'd give you the heads up, seeing as A) she's your fiancée, and B) it's probably your father behind this. Heartless bastard."  
  
Samantha chuckled when she heard Danny muttered the last sentence.  
  
"I don't think it helps that someone whom they suspect Jack had an affair with is going to end up as high-and-might deputy director's daughter-in- law. Just a heads-up man. See ya soon."  
  
Another beep sounded, alerting anybody who was listening that the message was over. Samantha sighed, and dragged herself off the couch and into the bathroom, entering and sitting on the toilet.  
  
"Who was that on the phone?" Martin asked, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the water.  
  
"Danny."  
  
"What'd he want?"  
  
"To tell you that your dad showed up last night after we left the office. He also suspects that OPR is going to get involved again, because of the fight I had with Jack."  
  
She heard Martin sigh. The steam that was coming from the shower was filling her nostrils, and somehow had a relaxing effect on her. "Can I come in?  
  
"Why not?" She smiled; she could hear the smirk in his voice. Quickly she stripped, and stepped into the steaming shower. He kissed her, and looked at her with such tenderness as he began to wash her hair. She sighed.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked gently. She looked up at him; the love in his eyes made her heart clench. She shook her head gently.  
  
"I don't know what I did to deserve you." She said honestly.  
  
"Au contraire." He said with a slight smile that had a touch of sadness in it. "I don't know what I did to deserve you." She reached up and kissed him gently.  
  
"I love you Martin." She whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
  
"I love you too." He whispered. "Move in with me." She pulled away from him, and looked at him questioningly. He shrugged. "You spend every night here anyway, we know it's going to work out, and everybody knows." She smiled and kissed him again.  
  
"How's this weekend sound?" He laughed and kissed her again.  
  
~*~  
  
The next day, when Martin got to the office, Victor was there, waiting for him. "Dad, what are you doing here?" He asked, the epitome of a perfect son. Victor turned and focused his eyes that were so like Martin's on his son.  
  
"I need to talk to you. In private." He said, stressing the last part, and walking past Martin and toward one of the conference rooms. Martin sighed and followed his father.  
  
He entered the small conference room. Martin did the same a few seconds later, closing the door behind him.  
  
"What's going on between Agent Spade and Agent Malone?" Victor said without preamble.  
  
"Absolutely nothing. Why?" Martin narrowed his eyes, feeling his heart skip a beat. Victor gave him a 'do you think I'm stupid?' look.  
  
"Then care to explain why the day after you propose to Spade, she and Malone have a lovers quarrel in his office?" Martin felt his stomach relax a bit.  
  
"There was no lovers quarrel. When Danny saw her ring, he didn't know who she was engaged to because we wanted to wait and see how our relationship worked out before we announced anything. She decided to play with his mind a bit, pretended that she'd only met the guy that night. Jack heard that, and was concerned. He wanted to make sure that she was all right." Martin said, twisting the truth a little.  
  
"Given Agent Spade's past history, you trust her story?" Martin took a deep breath.  
  
"Yeah, I do trust her. She never had an affair with him." He lied, successfully keeping a straight face. "That was only something invented by OPR because they were sent on a witch-hunt." He ventured, not knowing if he was brave or stupid. Probably the latter, because within seconds of him saying that, his father's face greatly resembled a tomato; the first sign of emotion he'd seen in his father in a long time. Not waiting for a response, Martin turned around and left the conference room.  
  
He stalked back into the bullpen, where the rest of the team was waiting. Scowling, he joined the rest of the team as Jack came out of his office with their next missing person.  
  
"34 year old Sarah Kingston." Jack said, beginning this case the way he began every other case. 


	7. Chapter 6 REVISED

Author's note: I re-wrote the last section of this chapter because I didn't like where it was going. So, if you read it, re-read it. Or you'll be slightly confused. Oh, and that little girl that Martin found in A Tree Falls- did she have a name or is she just 'the little girl?'  
  
Spoilers: Coming Home  
  
~~~~  
  
Samantha sighed as she quickly reviewed her report before signing it. Report in hand, she walked over to Martin's desk, where he, by all appearances was reviewing his own report. But alas, that was not the case. Approaching his desk, she smiled at the glazed-over look in his eyes.  
  
"Hey, you ok?" His head snapped up as he focused his gaze on her. He smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I'm just putting off talking to Jack." She smiled at that. She held out her hand in the universal symbol of offering.  
  
"Do you want me to drop it off for you?" He smirked and shook his head.  
  
"Nah. He told me that he wants to talk to me in his office, and besides, I've got to face him sometime."  
  
"Do you want me to wait for you?" He shook his head adamantly.  
  
"Take the car, I'll catch the subway." She smiled slightly.  
  
"Are you sure?" He nodded. "Okay." Both wanted to kiss the other goodbye, but from the beginning they'd had the 'Not at work' rule. "Bye." She said, as she turned to leave.  
  
"I love you Samantha." He said, turning around to quickly review his report for real this time.  
  
"I love you too." He smiled at the smile in her voice. Sighing, he quickly signed the bottom of his report, picked it up and began to make his way to Jack's office.  
  
Standing outside the glass doors, he hesitated. Taking a deep breath, he slowly entered the large office where the gruff black haired man was bent over some paperwork.  
  
"Here's my report." He said quietly, handing it over as Jack looked up.  
  
"Uh, thanks." He said gruffly, taking it and placing it in a pile with the other reports. "Sit down, please." He said, his voice leaving no room for argument, his hand motioning to the set of chairs in front of his desk. Martin sat, his stomach churning the way it had only twice before; when he was being interviewed for the job, and when he was telling Jack what really happened in the Reyes shooting.  
  
"How long have you and Samantha been together?" Jack asked without preamble.  
  
"It'll be nine months in two weeks." Martin answered steadily, his stomach twisting and turning more violently.  
  
"Before three days ago, who in the Bureau knew that you two were together?"  
  
"You mean besides Samantha?" The dark glare that scared many a suspect told him the answer to that question. "Just Viviane, and that was only because she called Sam on her cell and I answered."  
  
"Why didn't you tell anybody that you were dating?"  
  
"Why do I feel like I'm being interrogated?" He said, eyes flashing, the Fitzgerald anger starting to peek through. "We didn't tell anybody because we didn't want any awkward questions if we broke up."  
  
"You are aware, Martin, that you can't let your relationship affect your work, aren't you?"  
  
Martin's temper exploded, and he struggled to keep it under control. "When in the last eight months have Sam or I ever let our work be affected by our relationship." He stood up and stalked out of the office.  
  
He was scowling by the time he got back to desk and his hands were trembling with anger as he shut his computer off.  
  
"Hey Martin, how bad was it?" The glare Martin sent in Danny's direction was all he needed to know. "Do you want me to give you a ride home, talk about it a little?" Martin shook his head.  
  
"No thanks, I'll just take the subway." Danny crossed his arms across his chest and sent a mock glare in Martin's direction.  
  
"Uh-uh, no way José. There's no way I'm letting you take the subway when I can just as easily drop you off." Martin sighed in exasperation.  
  
"Fine, you win." The two made their way toward the exit, both lost in their own thoughts, but making small talk simply to pass the time. The two climbed into Danny's car, and as he turned the ignition on, he looked at Martin.  
  
"Let me guess, he gave you the 'You can't let your relationship affect your work.' speech." Danny said, and Martin sighed.  
  
"Yeah, how'd you know?"  
  
"I got a different version." Martin looked at him questioningly as Danny pulled the car into the never ceasing traffic.  
  
"You remember Luke Horton?"  
  
"The guy living the double life? Yeah, I remember him."  
  
"Well, when you and Viv called from that nightclub.what I'd said was, 'His wife's seven months pregnant and he's cruising gay bars? That sucks.' Sam asked me if what sucked was the affair, or the fact that he was gay. What I said in response was the fact that he didn't figure out that he was gay until after he was married. Jack gave me a huge lecture afterwards about how no matter what we think of them, we still have to find them."  
  
"Idiot." Martin muttered, his mood uplifting a little bit. He looked over at Danny, who had seemed to get even more fidgety since the beginning of the story. "Danny, what's wrong?" Danny sighed.  
  
"Years ago, before I came to New York, I was engaged to this really sweet girl, her name was Nicole and she was a lot like Amy Horton."  
  
"What happened?" Martin asked quietly, although he had a pretty good idea what, he just wasn't sure which one it was.  
  
Danny gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were turning white. "About a month and a half before the wedding, She realized that she was gay." He whispered, waiting for the disgust. Nothing, just silence. He waited a moment before glancing over at Martin, who was looking at him with a look of renewed respect for him.  
  
"That must of killed you." Martin said quietly.  
  
"Yeah.to be totally honest, I still haven't completely gotten over her." Danny whispered. Martin nodded slightly.  
  
"My best friend in high school was gay." He said quietly, turning his gaze outside the window. Though Danny kept his eyes on the road, his jaw dropped in silent shock.  
  
"He committed suicide right after graduation. I was the one that found his body." Danny's jaw dropped so low that he didn't think it could drop any lower. Before he could say anything to Martin's statement, the world turned black for both of the men, and the only sound they could hear was the sound of crunching metal and shattering glass, then the black world became silent. 


	8. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I know absolutely nothing about hospital procedure. Most of what I know is from watching TV, and we all know how inaccurate that can be, unless we're watching Discovery. So just bear with me. And as I said before, if you didn't read the re-write of chapter 6, go back and re-read it. It'll come into play next chapter. ~~~~  
  
Samantha sat on the couch, her arms wrapped around her abdomen. She felt safe, secure, and she didn't know why. She glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time, and considered calling Martin to ask how much longer he was going to be. She twisted and let herself fall backwards, and pulling her feet up so that she was lying on the couch, lengthwise.  
  
She was beginning to feel herself fall asleep when her cell phone rang. She sat up abruptly, hoping it was Martin. Glancing at the caller ID feature on the phone, she saw a number she didn't recognize. She frowned, and answered it. "Spade."  
  
"Miss Spade, this is Nicole Garrett, I'm a doctor at Mount Sinai hospital. About an hour ago, Danny Taylor and Martin Fitzgerald were brought in after being involved in a drunk driving accident."  
  
"Oh god." Samantha whispered, clutching the phone. The light that reflected off her ring and hit the wall seemed to be mocking her.  
  
"Will they be all right?" She asked, her voice cracking. On the other end of the line, Nicole sighed.  
  
"They're both still in the ER. Mr. Fitzgerald is going to be headed up to surgery soon. I think it'd be best if you came in with any other loved ones that they may have."  
  
"I'll be right there." Samantha whispered. She hung up the phone and sat there, frozen for a brief moment. Then, with frenzy that Samantha never knew she possessed, she ran, grabbed her keys and purse and ran out of the apartment building. As she hailed a taxi, because she honestly didn't think she could drive, she called Viviane.  
  
"Samantha?" Viviane answered questioningly, wondering what the younger woman would be calling her for.  
  
"There's been an accident." Samantha whispered. "Martin and Danny were hit by a drunk driver.they're still in the ER and Martin's going up to surgery soon."  
  
"Oh god Samantha." The older woman breathed, instantly worried about the two boys that were a huge asset to the team, as well as their hearts. Samantha closed her eyes.  
  
"Can you call Martin's father for me? I know I should probably do it but." She trailed off.  
  
"Of course I can. I'll Jack too, he'll need to know." Viviane mused. "Do you want me to go to the hospital to be with you?" She asked gently, her heart breaking for the beautiful blonde-haired agent.  
  
Samantha shook her head, although Viviane couldn't see it. "No, stay with your family. I'll call you if anything happens. Thank you." She said, and hung up. The taxi pulled up in front of the emergency entrance, she paid the taxi driver, tipping him well before she ran into the ER.  
  
"Fitzgerald and Taylor." She breathed, stopping at the nurses' station. The nurse there took in Samantha's disheveled state.  
  
"Are you Samantha Spade?" The nurse said, and Samantha nodded, needing to see Martin, needing to touch him, make sure for herself that he'd be okay.  
  
"The doctor wants to speak with you herself, but I can tell you that they should both be okay." The words had no sooner left her mouth than a team of doctors, all wearing bloodied scrubs burst through a set of doors, pushing a gurney. The man on the gurney was pale, and was covered in blood. He looked to be unconscious, and he had a tube down his throat, which was breathing for him. Samantha realized, with a small cry, that the man on the gurney was Martin. The gurney was pushed into a waiting elevator, which Samantha assumed carried them to the operating room.  
  
"Miss Spade?" Samantha turned around, and faced a pretty woman with blue eyes and dark hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail. "I'm Dr. Garrett, we spoke on the phone."  
  
"Hi." Samantha said. Her chest felt like an elephant was sitting on her, and her eyes prickled with the tears that felt like a thousand fire-hot needles.  
  
"I was Martin's doctor." Dr. Garrett said gently, leading her away from the bustle of the hectic ER.  
  
"Is he- is he going to be okay?" Samantha whispered, tears threatening to overflow. Dr. Garrett smiled.  
  
"Eventually, yes. He has a few cracked ribs, one of which punctured a lung. We were able to fix that here. He has some internal bleeding, which is why we sent him up to the OR. Besides that, all he's got is a few broken bones. He was extremely lucky that he wasn't killed."  
  
"Yeah." Samantha whispered, the image of Martin lying helpless on the stretcher flashing in her mind. "What about Danny?"  
  
"I'm not his doctor, so I don't know, but I can bring you in to see him. I do know that they're keeping him overnight for observation." Dr. Garrett said, leading her into the bowels of the ER before stopping in front of a door.  
  
Samantha took a deep breath before entering the dimly lit room. Her heart ached when she saw Danny lying there: pale, drifting in and out of consciousness. He nowhere near resembled the practical joker that they'd all come to love.  
  
His eyes opened and focused on her as she slowly entered. "Hey." She said, smiling through the tears that threatened to fall.  
  
"Hey." He said slowly, obviously under the influence of pain medication. "Is Martin okay? They won't tell me anything." He said softly, painfully.  
  
"He's in surgery." Samantha said in way of explanation. "He has some internal bleeding." He nodded and closed his eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry Samantha." He murmured, so soft that she wasn't sure he had spoken.  
  
"Danny?"  
  
"It should have been me." He opened his eyes, which were unusually bright. "He has parents, he has you. I don't have anybody." Samantha took his hand in hers.  
  
"You have me, you have Martin. You have Jack and Viviane, and you have everybody at the Bureau." Danny's eyes closed.  
  
"Martin needs you Sam." He whispered. "Why are you with me? Be with him." He squeezed her hand weakly before drifting back to sleep.  
  
She bit her lip, trying to fight back the tears. Talking to Danny had eased some of the fears, and had allowed her to push back the fears that had flooded her since learning about the accident.  
  
She slowly made her way up to the surgical waiting room. Upon reaching the empty room, she sank into one of the chairs and buried her head in her hands. A hot tear trickled out of her eyes, and she didn't fight them. The entire night was a blur, from her offering to wait for him till now, waiting for him to get out of life-saving surgery.  
  
'Please.' She thought. 'Don't let him die. Please, I don't think I could handle it.' She stayed there, lost in her own private thoughts. The minutes ticked by, so slowly that the clock didn't seem to move. An hour passed by, and the waiting room door opened, but Samantha didn't notice. She was so lost in her silent prayers that she didn't realize that somebody else was in the room until "Agent Spade?"  
  
Samantha looked up and saw the imposing stature of Victor Fitzgerald standing there. "Agent Fitzgerald." She said weakly, feeling odd addressing somebody else by her fiancée's title. She was slightly surprised to see the look of worry and fear in his eyes. Her gaze shifted to the woman standing slightly behind him, worry etched all over her face.  
  
"Please call me Mary." She said quietly when Samantha had addressed her as 'Mrs. Fitzgerald.'  
  
"How long has he been in surgery?" Victor asked, sitting in one of the chairs, Mary sitting next to him.  
  
"Uh, about an hour and a half." Samantha said softly, rubbing her forehead hard. (AN: I figure the hour that she was sitting there, about 5-10 minutes that she was talking to Danny, then the rest of the time was spent getting lost. Those hospitals are such a maze nowadays. And I'm just basing this off of a New Hampshire hospital. I'm sure Mount Sinai is much worse.)  
  
"And the other agent?"  
  
"Danny's been admitted for observation." The door opened again, and the trio looked up to see Jack standing in the door, with Viviane right behind him.  
  
"What are you guys doing here? I told you to be with your families."  
  
"Marie's visiting her parents, I left the girls with a neighbor." Jack put in, keeping a wary eye on Victor, who was in turn keeping a wary eye on Jack.  
  
"I left Reggie with his father." Viviane said, sitting next to Samantha and putting an arm around her.  
  
"Did you guys stop in to see Danny?"  
  
"Yeah, he was sleeping and we didn't want to wake him." Jack answered, as the door opened yet again. This time, however, a weary looking surgeon was standing there, and his blue eyes took in the group of five worried people.  
  
"Are y'all here for Martin Fitzgerald?" The doctor drawled with a southern accent. The group nodded, Samantha and Victor stood.  
  
"We managed to repair his internal bleeding. He's being sent to a private room. He'll be left on life-support until he's able to breathe on his own."  
  
"Can we see him?" Viviane asked, gently squeezing Samantha's hand.  
  
"Only immediate family, which includes fiancées." The doctor said, sending a smile to Samantha, who let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. 


	9. Chapter 8

Spoilers: Coming Home, Are you now…

~~~~

Danny opened his eyes slowly and blinked the last remnants of sleep away. He was in an unfamiliar bed, and his eyes roamed, trying to determine his current location. The IV connected to his arm- the arm that did not feel incredibly stiff, the pain in his chest, and the faint but ever-present antiseptic smell told him that he was in a hospital. 

Groaning, he closed his eyes and racked his memory, trying to remember what had happened to bring him to the hospital as a patient. Was it a case gone awry? No, Danny remembered turning his report in to Jack. The last memory that he had was getting into his car, Martin getting into the passenger seat. He remembered hearing the crunching metal and shattering glass. A car accident.

He had vague memories of Samantha, and of Jack and Viviane. Had they come in to see him? God he hated painkillers.

The door to his room opened, and so did his eyes. He blinked a few times, trying to determine if who he thought he saw was really in fact who he saw. "Nicole?" 

"Hi Danny." She said quietly, sticking her hands into the pockets of her coat. 

"Hell you doing here?" He mumbled sleepily, and meant every word that he'd said.

"I could ask you the same question. I live in New York now. Have since we split." She said, wondering if it was a bad idea to come in to see him. . 

"Mmmm. So've I." Danny said, part of him happy to be in the room right now, part of him wishing to be anywhere else, and the rest of him wishing Martin were here. Martin! 

"Is Martin okay?" He said suddenly, clearly this time, waking up from the sleep induced by a combination of painkillers and injuries and plain old exhaustion. She smiled. 

"Yeah, they'll be taking him off life support in a few hours."

"Life support?!" Danny exclaimed, sitting up. The pain in his chest assaulted him, and he lay back down, regretting the sudden movement. "Is he gonna be okay?"  
  


"Yeah, the drunk driver hit his side, remember? It's a miracle Martin survived. But he had a popped lung, internal bleeding, and he has a few broken bones. He'll be fine." Nicole's blue eyes studied him woefully. "I never meant to hurt you Danny." She said softly, changing the topic to a topic that neither had discussed. "I just couldn't live a lie." 

"I know." Danny said, and suddenly realizing that he indeed did know. "About eight months ago, we had this case, this guy who had a seemingly perfect life disappears. His wife's eight months pregnant. It turns out that he was gay and he was going to come out to his wife when his boyfriend's wife pushed him over a cliff." He said, drifting back into memory lane. 

*FLASHBACK*

_"I love you so much." Danny gently pushed onto the bed, kissing her frantically. The beautiful blue-eyed woman tensed up underneath him._

_"Danny, I can't do this." She said weakly, pushing him off of her. _

"That's fine." He said gently, the look of slight hurt in his eyes not going unnoticed by his fiancée. 

_"No, Danny, that's not what I mean." She sat up, drew her knees to her chest and buried her head. "God Danny. I can't do this anymore."_

_He began to rub her back. "Nikki, whatever it is, just tell me. I won't hate you for it. I could never hate you."_

_"Danny, I…I'm gay." Danny froze as he went into complete shock. _

_"Gay?" He whispered, his hand coming to a complete stop, but still resting on her back. _

_"Why didn't you tell me sooner." He said darkly, getting up and leaving the room. Right before he shut the door behind him, he could hear her faintly whisper,_

_"Because I didn't know how." _

_He left the small apartment, and went for a walk. He knew it was cliché, going for the walk, but he didn't know what else do to. He just walked and walked. By the time he returned to his apartment, Nicole was gone. He walked into the kitchen, and on the table there lay a letter. On top of the letter lay a simple engagement ring- Nicole's engagement ring._

_"Dear Danny, _

_            You're right, I should have told you sooner. I'm not even entirely sure I know why I didn't tell you. At first, I tried to forget about it, convince myself that I was straight, and in love with you. _

_            But the feelings persisted, if not grew stronger. You've got to believe me when I say that I wanted to tell you. But I couldn't bear to break your heart, because that would mean that it was true, I had to accept it first._

_            It wouldn't be fair to you, to be stuck in a marriage where she couldn't love you the way you loved her. You deserve better than me._

_                                                                                    Nicole Garrett"_

_He lay down the letter, and picked up the ring. The ring sparkled in the light, and it reminded him of the day on the beach when he'd given it to her. They'd been so happy; what'd happened? _

*END FLASHBACK*

"I'm sorry Nicole, I shouldn't have left like that." Danny whispered, his chest hurting not from the injuries caused by the accident, but by the regret of past mistakes.

"I shouldn't have told you like that." Nicole argued back. "I was actually surprised at how well you took it." She sighed. "A couple of days later, I tried to call you, 'cause I knew we needed to talk. But you'd already gone."

"I didn't think there was anything left for me there." Danny whispered. "I'd put in for the transfer the next day, and the day after than I came to New York. I've been in Missing Persons ever since."

The silence that formed between them was of the awkward kind, the kind that is there between two ex-lovers who meet again for the first time. The door opening made them both jump. 

"Did I interrupt anything?" Jack's gruff voice filled the room, and Danny took deep breaths, trying to slow down his racing heart.

"No. Nicole, this is my boss, Jack Malone. Jack, this is Dr. Garrett, she worked on Martin." 

"Right, right." Jack said, and the two exchanged the normal pleasantries. Nicole excused herself and left, leaving only Jack and Danny in the room. "Pretty girl." Jack commented, looking at Danny in a way that made him feel like Jack was seeing clear into his soul.

"Yeah." Danny said uncomfortably. "Have you seen Martin?" Jack shook his head.

"No, only immediate family is allowed, but Sam went in last night, and came out looking a lot calmer, so I'm assuming he looks better than when he was in the ER. She stayed all night; the docs made her go home a few hours ago. Martin's parents drove her." Danny winced.

"Feel bad for her. I certainly wouldn't want to be in close quarters with Daddy Dearest." He said, re-using the term he'd originally used back when Farrell was interrogating them about the Anwar Samir case. Jack laughed. 

"Yeah, I thought he was about to find a gun somewhere and shoot me when I showed up in the waiting room last night. Like I'd be able to let one of my agents have life-saving surgery without me being there. You guys are like family…"

"Okay Jack, stop being so sentimental. It's not your strong suit." Danny burst in, a slight grin playing on his worn features. A larger, more confident and more rare smile graced Jack's features. "Hey, why aren't you at work?" It had just occurred to Danny that it was mid-morning, and most people were in work not visiting their subordinates. 

Jack shrugged. "It's a slow day." He said. "There are no cases. To be completely honest, I think Van Doren is diverting them. She might confess if you ask her, she'd probably say that there're two agents in the hospital, one in no condition to work, leaving two agents to find missing people. Which, as the Bureau probably knows very well, is no way to find missing people."

Both men turned when the door opened, and saw a doctor there. "Good morning Mr. Taylor." The doctor said pleasantly. "I'm just going to be checking your vitals, you're most likely going to be able to go home now if they're good. Do you have someone to drive you?" The doctor directed the question towards Danny, paying no heed to Jack.

"Yeah, I can drive him." Jack said, sending a look towards the doctor that the doctor couldn't translate, but, due to all the years Danny worked with him, Danny was able to translate it to 'You're lucky, because if I could I'd take my gun out and shoot you for incompetence.' 

"Good, good." The doctor said, ignoring the look. Within ten minutes, Danny had been signed out of the hospital and dressed in the sweats that Jack had brought for when he got discharged. 

"Hey Jack, has Martin been moved out of the ICU yet? I want to see him." Danny said, sending a look to Jack that spoke volumes.

"Uh, I'm not sure. We can go check, if you'd like." Danny nodded, needing to see him for himself, needing to see with his own eyes that he'd be okay.

The two men traveled slowly through the maze-like hospital, partially due to the face that it was tricky getting from Danny's room to the ICU, and partially due to Danny's injuries.

"Mr. Fitzgerald has actually been moved." The nurse said, when the duo reached the ICU. "He's been taken off life support and is in a private room." 

"Can we see him there?" Jack asked, and the nurse nodded, and proceeded to give Jack the number. "Thank you." He said, and keeping a hand on Danny's elbow, left to find Martin's room. 

Danny took a deep breath when he saw his friend. Asleep, or maybe unconscious, Martin's face looked innocent, and didn't look like he belonged in the hospital. The blood had been cleaned off, and all the lacerations had been stitched. His right arm was in a cast, as were both of his legs, which were suspended by slings designed for broken legs. An IV went into his left hand. All in all, Martin looked a hell of a lot better than when they'd been brought in. 

*FLASHBACK*

_Danny slowly blinked his eyes open. The flashing red and blue lights reflected off of the dashboard, illuminating the blood that had spattered and the shards of broken glass. _

"Martin?" He whispered painfully. No response. He looked over, and nearly cried out at the sight of his friend, who lay crumpled between the seat and seatbelt. There was blood all over him, and his arm was bent in an angle that no arm should ever be bent. His breaths were short and shallow, and at a quick glance, Martin looked dead.

_"Get Martin out." He whispered to the paramedics who then arrived at the crushed car. The paramedics didn't respond, instead two teams worked on freeing the trapped men. As he was loaded onto the stretcher, he heard one of the paramedics ask him whom he wanted called. He gave them Samantha's name, and her cell number. _

_He kept his eyes trained on Martin, and the men trying to dig him out, and as they loaded him into the ambulance, he slipped back into unconsciousness. _

*END FLASHBACK*


	10. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I want to thank Illman for beta-ing this. Many details were brought up that I didn't notice, mostly because I knew what I was trying to say so I understood it perfectly. 

~~~~

"Hey, you're up late." Samantha said smiling as she entered Martin's hospital room. 

"I wanted to stay up to see you." Martin said, his face looking normal enough but his eyes betrayed his exhaustion. Samantha smiled softly and sitting on the edge of the bed, leaned in to give Martin a brief kiss. Martin smiled and deepened the kiss, pulling her close to his still-healing body. 

"I brought you something." Samantha said when the two had finally come up for air. 

"Really?" Martin asked inquisitively. Samantha nodded, and reached into her jacket pocket. She pulled out a small leather case and handed it to him. Martin gave her a curious look as he accepted the object, and his eyes lit up as he felt the familiar leather. To be sure, he opened the case, and felt his heart soar with something…relief maybe…when he saw his face looking back at him, with the letters F.B.I. stamped across the badge. 

"The doctors gave your badge and gun to Jack…I guess it was 'cause I was such a mess that night…I figure that you'd like that back." Martin looked at her with an odd look in his eyes, and she laughed. 

"You are not getting your gun till you at least come home…besides, what do you need a gun for in a hospital?"

"I don't know, that nurse down the hall's a bit scary." He said with a smirk. "Thank you." He said softly, as he kissed her briefly. 

Samantha smiled. "I know what it's like to get your badge back." She said, a touch of sadness in her eyes. She intertwined her fingers with Martin's free hand. "I love you so much." She whispered. "I was so scared and-." 

"Shhh." Martin whispered, removing his hand from hers and pulling her close, so that her head was lying on his shoulder. "I'm going to fine."

"Were you scared?"

Martin remained silent for a long moment. "I was petrified." He said finally. "I could hear everything that was going on, but I couldn't react. I could hear Danny telling them to get me out of the car, I could hear the paramedics trying to get me out, and I could hear the doctors in the ER. I was so scared Sam. I was scared that I wouldn't hear Danny crack a joke again, or see Viviane talking to the families, or crazy as this may sound, I was scared I would never see the scary look on Jack's face when he interrogates a suspect. And corny as this may sound, I was scared that I would never see your smile again." 

Samantha was quiet for a moment. "I'm not sure I should be telling you this, but you flat-lined in the ER." Martin didn't respond, so she continued. "I didn't get the call till an hour after you were brought in. By then they knew you'd make it but before that they weren't sure." Martin gave a slight laugh. 

"Sam, you think I'd go out that easily?" He whispered in her ear. "You know that if I'm gonna go down I'm not going without a fight." He kissed the top of her head. "Go home, get some sleep."

Samantha pulled back, and looked him in the eye. "You sure?" Martin nodded. "All right." She agreed reluctantly, and stood. "I'm going to try and get in here a little earlier tomorrow." 

Martin smiled, nodded and pointed at the door. "Go." He said, kissing her gently before pushing her toward the door. She smiled, shook her head and walked out of the room.

~*~

Samantha sighed as she walked down the hallway of the FBI field office at a brisk pace.  Martin had been released from the hospital earlier that morning. As she walked by the glass windows that betrayed all the agents working, she wished even more that she was at home; not only had Martin insisted that she go in, but Jack had made it clear that he wanted her in the office if Martin was all right. The logical part of her brain agreed; down two field agents, the three remaining that were cleared to go into the field were stretched thin as it were. Luckily, Danny had already been cleared to do office work, and was doing all of the background checks and financial checks and so on.

She bit back a groan when she entered the bullpen and saw Viviane and Danny sitting around the small conference table, by all appearances doing nothing. 'I made sure to rush out to work to save people and all I'm going to do is sit around and do nothing?' She grumbled to herself.  

"Hey Sam." Danny's smile, which was slowly regaining the energy that it had before the accident, put a slight smile on her face. "Nice flowers." 

"What?" Caught up in her thoughts, Samantha was slow to react but when she turned her head towards her desk, she saw a beautiful bouquet of flowers there. Her breath caught in her throat as she read the small card stuck in between the flowers: 

_I love you_

_-Martin_

"What's the occasion?" Viviane asked. Samantha looked up.

"Today's our nine month anniversary." She looked back down at the flowers. "Everything's been so crazy I almost forgot." 

"Did you get-." Danny began to ask, but Samantha cut him off.

"I really don't think that's any of your business Agent Taylor." She said, with a twinkle in her eye and a smirk on her face. Danny and Viviane both began to chuckle as Jack came out of his office. 

"Fifteen year old Ryan Anderson." Jack said, putting the photo up on the whiteboard. "His parents reported him missing when they came home from work and he wasn't there. They called his friends their neighbors, nothing. They called the school that their son goes to, his teachers said that he'd gotten on the bus as usual."

"Fifteen year old boy and his teachers vividly remember him getting on the bus? How big's this school?" Samantha asked, with a quizzical look on her face. Jack looked at her. 

"He's been hearing impaired since birth, he goes to a school for the blind and deaf." Jack responded. "Viv, I want you to head to his school, see what you can learn. Danny, run the background checks on the parents, and look into their finances. Samantha, you and I are going to talk to the parents." He said, glancing at the photo. "By the way Sam nice flowers." Samantha rolled her eyes as she moved to follow him out of the office, with Viviane trailing right behind her.

The drive to the Anderson home was silent; the usual chitchat about whatever case they were working on at the time was absent. It wasn't a comfortable silence either; it had the strange awkwardness of two ex-lovers who didn't know what to say to each other. 

"Nice house, nice neighborhood." Samantha commented when they pulled into the driveway of the Anderson home. 

"Mmmm" Jack agreed, walking towards the door, Samantha following him. 

~*~

"That's got to be the shortest case I've ever worked." Jack said, pulling easing the car onto the highway. 

"Yeah." Samantha agreed, stealing a quick glance at her boss. "Jack, are you okay? You've been acting weird lately." She dared to venture, not knowing if she really wanted to know the answer.

He glanced at her for a brief second before returning his gaze to the road. "Does he make you happy?" Samantha was floored; she honestly did not expect that response.

"Yeah, he makes me very happy. Why?" 

Jack shrugged. "Just wondering." The look in his eyes, and the tone of his voice told Samantha that that was not the case.

"You're lying." She accused, and he glanced at her quickly.

"All right. I've known for two years that he's had a crush on you, but I've also known that you would never fall for him. What changed?" His tone was slightly accusatory. 

She turned slightly in the seat. "Something has to change in order for me to fall in love with somebody other than you?" She said, her voice a deadly quiet. She sighed, not really in the mood for a fight. "It just sorta…evolved I guess." 

"Starting when?" 

"I don't have to explain the details of my relationship with you." Samantha said through clenched teeth "Stop the car." 

"Sam, we're still fifteen blocks from the office."

"I don't care. Stop the car." Her voice was cold, and Jack decided to comply with the woman who was armed and who was engaged to a man who was also armed, though her fiancée was in the position to do a lot more damage to Jack than to just shoot him.


	11. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Okay. Inventories were created by the devil. So are creative writing teachers…at least the ones at NHSN. 

Finally I updated! Yay! Thanks to all of you who wished me luck on all my tests and such…. I got a projected grade of 100% and a recommendation to go to French 2 on my EEE, I got a 30 out of 25 on my oral exams, I got caught up in chemistry, pulling my grade up to a B+, and I have my two hardest finals over and done with. No more chemistry ever! 

Now, on with the story.

~~~~

Danny frowned when he saw Samantha walk into the bullpen looking exhausted. "Hey Sam." He said, watching her collapse into her seat. 

"Hey Danny." She asked, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hands. 

Danny stared at her, unsure of what was wrong. "Weren't you with Jack today?" 

"Don't ask Danny. Please, don't ask." She said firmly, looking at him. She looked at the clock and sighed. "Those fifteen blocks took longer than I anticipated. I'll do my report in the morning."  She looked at him, the hurt evident in her brown eyes. "G'night Danny." 

"G'night." He responded, and she left the office, feeling his eyes glued to her as she walked out of the bullpen. She bit her lip as she hastened her pace. 

~*~

"You can't pretend that you didn't love him." Martin said softly, running the fingers on his good hand through her long blonde hair. Samantha sighed.

"I know, I just…" 

"Wish he wasn't such a bastard?" Martin supplied, a slight smile playing on his lips. Samantha laughed softly.

"Yeah." She whispered. She pulled herself closer to Martin, deriving comfort from feeling his heartbeat thud against her shoulder. Martin's fingers on his left hand, which had been freed from the sling the previous day reached out and clasped Samantha's hand as best as it could. 

"Kelly called today." Martin said suddenly, changing the subject.

"Really? What'd she have to say?" Samantha asked, wondering what the younger woman could have wanted.

"She thinks her current boyfriend is 'the one.'" Martin said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He loved his little sister, but her taste in men was something to be desired. Samantha frowned. 

"Didn't she say that about that guy that got fifteen for...?" Martin nodded.

"Armed robbery. Yup. I told her what I always tell her, to be careful and to call me if she needs anything." He sighed. "She laughed and told me I was being overprotective. What is it about bad boys that are so appealing?" He asked rhetorically.

"Do you really want to know?" Samantha asked, also rhetorically. Martin shook his head. 

"No, not really." He paused. "I just don't want to see her hurt." He said softly. "I'm so scared that she'll end up like some of the people we see everyday." 

"I know." Samantha whispered. The two slipped into a comfortable silence, the only sound coming from the cars on the street below. The phone rang shrilly, causing them to jump. 

"Hello?" Martin said upon answering. "Hi mom…yeah I talked to Kelly today…I just hope she's not making a mistake…no I don't think that…Yes I did tell her that…" Martin sighed. "Yeah, Samantha's here." Silently he handed the phone over.

"Hello?"

"Hi Samantha. Do you think Martin is being too quick to judge?" the older woman asked without preamble. Samantha smiled slightly.

  
"All I know is from what Martin has told me, but no I don't think he's too quick. We see things every day that would shock you. Kelly does have a habit in choosing bad guys…he just doesn't want to see her hurt…" Samantha trailed off. 

"Martin always was over-protective of her." Martin's mother mused. Samantha laughed slightly, causing Martin to wonder what they were talking about. He watched in amusement as she made small talk for a few moments before saying goodbye and handing the phone back to Martin. 

"Hello?"

"Hi Martin. Listen, your father just came home, I need to go. Okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."  She said, before hanging up the phone. Martin did likewise.

"Pretense of a happy marriage." He mumbled. Samantha looked at him.

"What did you say?"

"Oh nothing." He said quickly, a little embarrassed that he'd actually expressed that thought out loud. Samantha looked like she didn't believe him, but she was prevented from pressing him on the issue by a large, face-distorting yawn. 

Martin yawned a split-second later. "Contagious." He teased her slightly. "Come on, it's late. Lets go to bed." He said, standing. He waited until she too stood, and slowly made his way to the bedroom, slightly dragging his right leg, which was big and heavy and bulky with the walking cast that the hospital had put on. 

When the two had settled down, and the lights turned off, the only sounds were the two of them breathing. "I love you Sam." Martin whispered into the night.

"I love you too Martin." Samantha replied, feeling herself slipping into a much-welcome sleep.

~*~

Samantha sat up violently, panting slightly. A quick check of the clock confirmed that it was late, or early, depending on one's perspective, only three in the morning. Martin was still sleeping, the sounds of his shallow breathing contradicting the sounds of her quick, and deep ones. 

She lay back down gingerly, and pulled the coverers up to her chin. 'Just a dream.' She thought. "It was just a dream." She whispered, willing sleep to return, but it did not. 


	12. Chapter 11

Days slowly turned into weeks, and eventually Martin was allowed to return to work. "Glad to be back?" Samantha asked with a slight smile teasing her mouth as they rode the elevator up to the violent crimes divisions. Martin laughed.

"Yeah, but I know that I'll be regretting that by the end of the week." He said as the elevator doors opened with a 'bing.' "Especially since I probably won't be allowed back into the field for a while." Martin added as they walked towards the bullpen, gesturing towards his leg, which was currently wrapped in an ace bandage to give extra support. 

"Mmmm." Samantha agreed. The rest of the walk was silent, or as silent as the FBI's New York Field office could ever be in the early hours of the morning while everybody was beginning to work. The two of them joined Vivian and Danny at the small conference table, waiting for Jack to come out of his office with a case.  Vivian and Danny welcomed him back warmly, immediately including him in their conversation. Martin was glad to see that there was no residual guilt in Danny's eyes, and he felt like he'd never left. If it weren't for the slight ache in his leg, than he'd probably be questioning his own sanity, wondering if the past few weeks actually occurred.

About twenty minutes after Martin and Samantha arrived, Jack emerged from his office with a file folder in hand. 

"Thirty-seven year old Todd Bryant." Jack said, putting a photo of a pleasant looking man with bright green eyes and messy brown hair. "He was last seen dropping his seventeen year old daughter off at school before headed into work. Samantha, go talk to the daughter, Danny, Viv, check out his work. Martin, I want you to do a credit and background check on him and his wife, see if anything interesting pops up. I'll be talking to the wife."

The team remained silent as they began to work. As Samantha approached the door to the bullpen, she turned and smiled at him. He smiled back, and watched until she'd disappeared from sight.

Martin turned to face his computer and began typing his request in. "Martin." He looked up and saw Jack standing in front of him. "Take care of her." He said, and without letting Martin respond, turned and walked off.

~*~

"Daughter says that there was nothing unusual going on, at least that she noticed. But she did say that her parents had been fighting less." Samantha said.

"Did they fight a lot?" Danny asked. Samantha shrugged.

"Apparently."

"Nothing interesting popped up on the background and credit checks. No outstanding debts, they've got a good line of credit. I've started checking out his co-workers, see if any of them have anything." Martin added. 

"Good idea." The three agents jumped at the sound of their boss's voice. "Neither of you got anything probative?" Jack directed the question towards Danny and Samantha. Both shook their heads. 

"You know Jack, I'm beginning to feel like this guy left on his own volition." Danny ventured, his brow furrowed. Martin and Samantha nodded their agreement. 

"Mmm." Jack mumbled, looking thoughtfully worried. "Danny, come with me, we're going to talk to the wife again." Danny nodded before jumping up to follow him.

~*~

"Mrs. Bryant, is there any possibility, any at all, that your husband would have left on his own?" Jack asked the distraught woman who was doing a remarkable job holding herself together, mainly for the benefit of her daughter.

"If you were to ask me seventeen years ago, I'd say yes. But now, no." She said softly, her leg bouncing anxiously.

"Why, what was going on seventeen years ago." Danny asked quizzically. Mrs. Bryant sighed.

"He was twenty, I was just barely nineteen when I got pregnant. His parents went crazy. It's not like mine were happy, but his were over the edge. We ended up getting married. The first two years were filled with so much fighting that I nearly split. But I figured that my daughter deserved to know her father. Eventually we worked things out, and I couldn't imagine life being different."

"Do you know the reason why Todd's parents were upset? Other than the fact that their twenty-year-old son was going to be a father?" Jack quickly amended. Mrs. Bryant nodded.

"His parents never approved of me. They kept pushing him to be with some other girl, a country club type. When Todd married me instead, his parents were furious, cut him out of their lives. Being twenty-year-old father-to-be while trying to finish college and support a family isn't exactly a perfect recipe for happiness."

"Do you know her name?" Jack asked, pen poised over his notebook.

"Kathryn Daniels." 

"Thank you." Jack said as he and Danny stood, and headed straight for the door. 

~*~

"Ms. Daniels, open up, FBI." Jack called, with his Danny behind him. The heavy oak door slowly cracked open. 

"What do you want?" The tired looking woman asked wearily. 

"Ms. Daniels, we're looking for Todd Bryant, he's been missing since early this morning."

"An adult male? How do you know he just didn't want to escape the pressure of a family?" She asked, opening the door a little wider. Both Jack and Danny picked up on her unease.

"Because he's a dependable guy who wouldn't just up and leave. Do you mind if we come in?" Jack said, shivering with the early autumn wind.

"Do you have a warrant?" She snapped back, clutching the door a little tighter. 

"No."  
  


"Well then. You just answered your own question." She said sharply before slamming the door shut. The two men sighed and began to walk away. As they climbed into the car, Jack's phone rang.

"Yeah." 

"Jack, it's me." Vivian's voice said. "Samantha showed Kathryn Daniels' picture to Todd's daughter, and she recognized her. Said that she saw her a few times when they were out, but never thought much of it."

"Great." Jack said wryly. "She was very jumpy, wouldn't let us get through the front door without a warrant."

"Another thing. Martin ran her credit history. Yesterday, she made a large purchase at a hardware shop, mainly rope and duct tape."

"When in doubt, use duct tape." Jack said pointlessly. "Thanks Viv."

"No problem."

~*~

"Ms Daniels, FBI. Open up." Jack said, pounding on the heavy oak door an hour later. He felt a sudden wave of deja vu as the door cracked open. 

"Now what do you want?" She whispered, looking scared.

"We have a warrant to search your premises in connection to the disappearance of Todd Bryant." Jack said, brushing past her, followed by the rest of his team, including Martin.

Without verbalization, the team split up to cover more ground. Martin and Danny headed into the basement, Samantha and Vivian stayed on the first floor, and Jack headed upstairs. The house as a whole was very clean, immaculate even, not much clutter. The basement was a different story. Boxes and used furniture were scattered haphazardly around, and the two had to be careful not to bump their shins. 

With their guns drawn but at a downward angle, Martin and Danny poked and prodded around the obstacles in their way, even going as far as opening some of the larger ones. 

"Rest of the house is clear. You guys get anything?" Jack's voice echoed from the top of the stairs.

"No, but we're only half done." Danny called up, moving to peer around a particularly large bookcase. Martin snickered.

"If that." He mumbled, moving slowly toward the water heater. "Guys, I found him!" He called out, holstering his gun.

"I've got your back." Danny replied instantly, more out of instinct than anything, moving towards Martin, his gun raised slightly higher. Jack, Samantha and Vivian came clattering down the stairs as Martin pulled Todd out from behind the water heater. 

"He's unconscious, but he's got a steady pulse." Martin reported. Jack nodded to Martin, while pulling out his cell phone and calling for the paramedics.

"Let's go arrest Ms. Daniels, shall we?" Jack said wryly, headed upstairs.

~*~

"The doctors say that he'll be fine, he's just a little dehydrated." Jack announced, stepping into the bullpen where the team was finishing their reports before heading home for the night.

"That's great." Danny commented, leaning back in his chair."

"Mmm." Jack agreed, his eyes shifting to Martin. "Good work. There's not much to be done, why don't you guys head home." It wasn't a suggestion as much as an order; and the four stood and began to pack up. Vivian left first, eager to be with her son. Danny left next, saying that he had a date. Martin and Samantha left last, together. They weren't holding hands as they went down the hall, but they were walking close together, practically attached at the hip, and their body language screamed to anybody who was watching that they were an item.

The walk was silent, each just gathering joy from being with the other. Both were exhausted, and were looking forward to a night of quiet cuddling. The elevator was empty, and Samantha used that opportunity to lean into Martin's muscular form. 

"I don't want to wait." Samantha said suddenly, taking Martin by surprise.

"Wait for what?" Martin mumbled into her hair.

"You. Me. Us." She turned and looked at him. "I want to get married." Martin didn't say anything for a moment, just looked at her with a thoughtful look on his face. Then he leaned down, and covered her mouth with his own.


	13. Chapter 12

A/N: all right. Here's the next chapter, with the help of Ally and Lia. I tried to upload it last night, but there was a formatting problem so I removed it. I'm sorry if the problems are still there. I tried. 

An early apology to all my girls who are reading this, but there's only one more chapter. It's written, I'm just not happy with it, so as soon as I am happy with it, I'll be posting it, and it'll be done.

~*~

"I feel gross." Samantha mumbled, glaring at her reflection in the mirror, trying to scrub the make-up Jamie had applied to her face earlier that morning.

"You don't look gross." Martin assured her, wrapping his arms around her waist, and kissing the nape of her neck. "And you definitely don't smell gross."

"It's that perfume your cousin bathed me in this morning." She grumbled, throwing the tissues on the dresser. She turned around, Martin's arms still around her waist. "I give up." She muttered, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm taking a shower." She kissed him briefly on the lips. "Alone." Kiss. "Because." Kiss. "There's something said," kiss, kiss. "About anticipation." 

"All right." Martin whispered softly, and Samantha smiled, and kissed him one more time before breaking away from his embrace and disappearing into the bathroom. No sooner than the water started running, did Martin's cell phone vibrate, ringing twice before going silent. 

"Talk about perfect timing." Martin muttered, grabbing his cell phone to double-check the caller-ID. Sure enough, it was Jamie, sending the signal that she was in the lobby waiting for him. Knowing from experience that she'd probably take a while, he pocketed the room key, and quietly slipped out of the hotel room. 

*FLASHBACK*

"You love her, don't you?" Martin sat in Jamie's kitchen, holding little Ava while Jamie bustled around getting dinner ready.

"Of course I do." Martin said, sitting up straighter, as if slightly offended.

"And I know the girl loves you, so what are you waiting for?" The question was rhetorical, and both knew it. 

"I'm not sure." Martin said quietly, slouching down slightly, turning his eyes to Ava, who was watching him with her round brown eyes. 

"Life's too short, Marty." Jamie said quietly, shoving the pan of lasagna into the oven. Indeed, life was too short, and they both knew it.

*END FLASHBACK*

"Hey Marty. That was quick." Jamie said smiling, hugging him. "I was expecting to be waiting a while."

"Hey. It was perfect timing, she'd just gotten into the shower." He said, hugging her back. She smirked at him.

"She didn't want you to join her?" She said teasingly. Martin grinned.

"No, she said something about anticipation." He said, pretending to be confused. Jamie burst out laughing. Still grinning, she reached into her purse. She pulled out a simple jewelers box. "Thanks again for hiding it for me." He said, tucking the box into his pocket. 

"No problem Marty." She said, hugging him again and kissing his cheek. "Now, go upstairs before she files a missing persons report." 

"Yes ma'am." He said grinning, hugging her again before headed back to the room.

~*~

She wiggled closer to him, if that was even possible, feeling his warmth and breathing his scent. His breath hit the top of her head as he tightened his grip on her. The bracelet that he'd given her as a surprise, lay foreign on her wrist. His simple gold wedding band sparkled, and the sparkle caught her eye.

*FLASHBACK*

"I'm scared." She admitted, not quite meeting the younger woman in the eye. 

"Why's that?" Jamie asked, her eyes not on Sam but on the chase that some of the younger kids were giving the older relatives. 

"I'm not sure." She said softly. "My parents didn't have the best marriage, and my previous marriage lasted only a couple of months." She paused, slightly unsure of how Jamie would take the news, but she didn't look fazed in the least. "Every relationship I've been in, it either ended badly, or quickly, or most often than not, both." 

Jamie looked at her, with wide understanding eyes. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I think he feels the same way." She said, nodding her head towards Martin. "But I can tell you one thing for sure; he has no plans on leaving."

*END FLASHBACK*

She was snapped out of her reverie but a sudden, but slow movement roused her as Martin moved his other arm to pull her closer. 

"We did it." She whispered into his chest. "We got married."

"Yeah we did." He whispered back, his smile evident in his voice.

"Hey Martin?" She said suddenly.

"Mmm?"

"Do you think we still would've gotten together if I hadn't called you that night?"

"I'd like to think so." Martin said matter-of-factly, in a way that made Samantha smile. "Eventually maybe, but I don't know. Maybe it's like that 'two roads diverged in a yellow wood thing…but I'm glad that you did call." He kissed the top of her head. "I love you Sam." He whispered, tracing little circles on her back with his fingers.

"I love you too Martin." She whispered back, arching her back and shifting enough to be able to plant a kiss on his lips. He returned the kiss with equal passion as he gently pushed her backwards onto the bed.

~*~

"Hey welcome back." Vivian greeted the two when they walked into the office nearly two weeks later, smiling. 

Martin and Samantha grinned back. "Hey. You miss us?"

"You wouldn't believe how much." Danny said from behind them, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Martin and Samantha both looked at him suspiciously for a moment before quickly going to their desks and starting a thorough search.

They didn't hear Jack come up behind them, only looking up when they heard Vivian answer Jack's silent question with, "They're making sure Danny didn't booby trap or tamper their desks."

"Would I do that?" Danny asked rhetorically, throwing his hands up in mock exasperation. 

Martin, Samantha, Jack and Vivian simply looked at him, and Danny rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable." He groaned good-naturedly.

"I can assure the both of you that Danny has been nowhere near either of your desks while you were gone. Welcome back, by the way." 

"Thanks." Martin and Sam said at the same time as they joined the rest of the team at the small conference table. The case that day was simple, or as simple as a case could get; a sloppy kidnapper who allowed the security cameras at the school where he'd kidnapped his daughter to catch his face.

As Jack sent them on their way, Martin and Samantha's eyes locked for a brief second and they smiled, finally content with the way life had turned out.


	14. Epilogue

Author's Note: Sorry girls, this is the last installment (hence the chapter titling of "Epilogue.") I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this, if I get a lot of reviews and a couple decent plot bunnies then I will, because this ending just screams sequel.

Also, for some reason, FFN is not letting me format this the way I want, so I'm trying my best and I'm sorry. Most of it is common sense where the breaks should be. 

Millions of thanks to Lia for helping me with this. You're the greatest!

(6 Months Later)

As Samantha woke up slowly, she became increasingly aware of the warm body half covering hers. She smiled sleepily and opened her eyes. Martin must have come home in the middle of the night, she reasoned, because he wasn't there when she went to bed.

She placed a soft kiss on her husband's lips, and tried to wiggle out of his warm embrace. But as soon as he realized that the warm body next to him was moving away, he woke up, and watched her with sleep filled eyes.

"Morning." He whispered, his voice deep and raspy from sleep.

"Morning. When did you come in?" She said, just as softly.

"About two thirty. I slept on the plane."

"No easy feat. I know Danny doesn't fly well." Samantha said, her volume returning to normal. Martin shrugged.

"Wasn't that bad." Martin shifted and propped himself up on his elbow, looking down into her beautiful brown eyes.

"I went to the doctor yesterday." Samantha said, getting lost in his blue eyes, which happened every time she looked into his eyes.

"Really? What did they say?" Martin asked, his interest perked. He'd been trying to get her to go to the doctor for the past couple weeks, but she resisted, saying that it was just a stomach thing.

"He said that I'm pregnant." She said, a soft smile playing on her lips and a sparkle dancing in her eyes. Martin's eyes lit up.

"Really?" He asked, and her smile widened. 

"Yup. About two and a half months." He leaned down and kissed her softly, but passionately on the lips. Her hand had moved to her stomach, and his moved down to cover hers. 

"I love you." He whispered, with a gleam in his eyes. "I -." Whatever he was going to say apparently didn't convey what he was feeling, because he cut himself off and kissed her again, much more deeply and much more passionately. She returned the kiss, but broke it off within a minute.

"As much as I love the way this morning is going, we have to start getting ready or we'll be late for work." She said huskily. Martin groaned and buried his face in her neck. "C'mon." She said, a touch of regret in her voice as she struggled to get out of Martin's embrace. 

From his desk, Jack's eyes scanned the office, noticing Martin and Samantha's absence. He was still trying to get used to the idea of the two being married. In all his career, this notion of a married couple on the same team was a rarity, but one that he was beginning to see the merits of. 

He watched as Danny began to prepare himself for the day ahead. He smiled slightly to himself; Danny was the last one unmarried, and it was beginning to show. Martin and Samantha used to come in early, simply because there was rarely a reason not to, but ever since they got married, they'd begun coming in on time, somewhat reminding Jack of when his marriage was good. He frowned a bit. Hopefully Martin and Samantha wouldn't fall into the same trap as he and Marie did.

When Martin and Samantha entered his office just before seven that morning, Jack looked up at them questioningly. It wasn't uncommon for an agent from the team to drop in, particularly after a big lead turned up, but two at once, this early in the morning, two agents who were married to each other was a rarity. 

"Good morning." He greeted as the two sat in the chairs in front of his desk. They greeted him in turn, before looking at each other with slight trepidation. Jack looked from one to the other, wondering what the hell was going on. 

"Jack there's something we need to tell you." Martin said, glancing at Samantha. She seemed to take the hint and spoke up.

"I'm pregnant." She said, quietly but confidently, with an air of grace around her that she'd only acquired after marrying Martin. A smile graced Jack's normally gruff features.

"Congratulations." He said, and meant it. Samantha had a glow around her that only expectant mothers seemed to have, and there was a look of pure, unaltered joy in Martin's eyes that screamed, "I'm going to be a Daddy!"

"You do know, that you can't go into the field knowing." Jack said, in all seriousness. Samantha nodded. 

"Yeah, I do know that. It'll be a lot easier watching my desk this time around, though." She said, smirking, remembering the time when she'd been confined to desk duty because of OPR's hesitance to clear her for field duty. Martin and Jack laughed, also remembering.

Samantha smiled, looking at the two men in front of her. She'd come a long way since that night, crying on Lisa's couch. And she had that man, the man that had captured her heart long before she realized it, to thank.


End file.
